The Trials and Tribulations of Hogwarts '78
by cassdaft
Summary: Lily Evans and The Marauders have a lot to overcome before they are ready to take on their prejudiced world at war. TW: Violence, Language, etc.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of these characters. All credit goes to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

This is my first attempt at a fic EVER. After reading so many I figured I'd try my hand at it- I love Jily and the Marauders and I hope this does them justice. I hope you enjoy and comment with any suggestions you may have!

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

He walked into the common room hours after curfew to find Lily laying on the couch. At least he was sure it was her because beautiful and long red hair was hanging over the side of it. He had been wandering the grounds that night, deep in thought about everything ranging from quidditch strategy for this year's team, to Sirius' obsession with getting a Muggle motorbike and of course the crazy arse head girl who drove him absolutely insane.

"Aw Evans," he thought to himself, "you're actually pretty cute when you're not being an insufferable know it all." But who was he kidding? She was always cute.

He noticed there were no books around her so she hadn't been studying when she had fallen asleep. His heart fluttered at the thought that she had been waiting for him, though he knew that was utterly ridiculous and he kicked himself for even thinking it. "Bloody idiot, " he whispered to himself.

A blanket was draped over her, Marlene or someone had probably seen her sleeping there and didn't want to wake her. James considered leaving her there as well but he knew that from the position she was in her neck would surely get a crick in the morning.

He observed her. She was beautiful. Especially when she wasn't scowling at him. But even when she was, she was still the most gorgeous girl he knew.

He walked closer and was hit with a smell he couldn't quite identify but didn't think anything of it. Gently putting a hand on her shoulder he shook her a bit and whispered, "Evans."

She didn't budge and he moved her hair out of her face, caressing it a bit, "Evans wake up, you'll thank me for it later I promise," he said a little louder.

"Evans c'mon," he said in a sing song voice. She was out like a light.

He considered carrying her up to her room but knew she would kill him if he went in there. Deciding that he would take his chances he pulled the blanket off and went to reach for her but stopped. Her white school shirt was sticky and wet.

And red.

His breath hitched while his heart stopped.

"Lily…" he reached out to her again slowly.

\"Lily," he shook her slightly, her head rolling to the side. "Lily!"

He tore open her shirt and nearly passed out. His breath coming out in gasps as he took in the obscene amount of blood and the deep wound in her stomach. It was blood that he had smelled. He wasn't sure how he was still upright.

He lost it. Shaking her he started screaming, "Lily wake up! Please, wake up!" Over and over, as if she would pop up and start laughing at him.

He checked her breath which was coming out too slowly to be normal.

"HELP!" He scooped her up and started running out of the portrait hole towards the infirmary faster than he had ever gone in his life, screaming incoherently for someone to help and also at her. "Stay with me, Lily! Stay fucking with me!"

As he neared the infirmary Madam Pomfrey ran out of the door in her night clothes and wild hair, "what in the heavens is -", she stopped short as she took in the sight of a pale and bloody James Potter running towards her at full speed with a limp red head in his arms.

She immediately took charge and ran to gather supplies. "Put her down here," motioning to a bed nearest to the door, "what in Merlin's name happened, Mr. Potter!?"

James set her down gently and was yelling in between labored sobs. "It looks like she was stabbed! She's barely breathing! Please -"

"Get the Headmaster, Mr. Potter," she said forcefully. "Now!"

But he couldn't move.

She cut Lily's shirt off and the last thing James saw before the world went black was the word "MUDBLOOD" written across her abdomen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<br>**So, here is the second chapter! It's a little short but I hope to start making them a little longer in the future once the story starts progressing. I hope you enjoy!

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><p>The moment James gained consciousness he opened his eyes and bolted upright. His head spun and he couldn't see clearly because his glasses weren't on his face. He felt around until he found them and smashed them on his nose while swinging his legs around the side of bed. The infirmary was empty other than four people crowded around a bed in the corner. He ran on wobbly legs towards the crowd, afraid of what he would find.<p>

As James approached them the soft and gentle voice of Professor Dumbledore said, "Ah, Mr. Potter, we were wondering when you would come to."

To her left were Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonagall and to the right were Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore, but he was barely aware of them.

He took a look at the girl lying in the bed and his heart caught in his throat. Her red hair looked even brighter than usual due to the contrast of the white pillow behind her head and her pale skin, which was even whiter than usual. She looked peaceful at first glance, but the fresh bruises along her neck made the sight almost physically painful for James. He had never felt more sick in his life.

"She is going to be fine in time, Mr. Potter," came the voice of Madame Pomfrey. "Thankfully you came when you did, or there is no telling what misfortune could have fallen upon Ms. Evans."

He could feel Dumbledore's eyes on him as he said, "we need you to tell us what happened, James. Everything you know."

James took a deep breathe and hoarsely told them how he had found Lily in the common room (leaving out the fact that he was out after hours), then quickly after realizing she was unconscious and bleeding brought her here as fast as he could.

Softly, Madam Pomfrey spoke. "She has three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, bruises along her arms and neck, a stab wound from a rather large sharp object, and nearly two pints of blood lost. And," she cleared her throat "a foul word written in dark magic across her abdomen. Everything else can and will heal in time. But no amount of healing or potion can erase the dark magic surrounding that."

James felt the blood rush from his face and had to turn away from her to avoid throwing up.

Shaking his head, Slughorn looked sadly at his favorite student, "who would do this to sweet Lily? She wouldn't hurt a fly."

McGonagall who had been silent this whole time looked at James with serious eyes. "Is there anyone that you can think of that would do such a thing, Potter?"

He had been so busy worrying over Lily's physical wounds that he hadn't stopped to think about who had actually done this to her. His mind immediately went to dark places, imagining the hell he would personally bring to the soul that had touched her.

He looked at Dumbledore right in the eye, "Nott. Avery. That fucker Mulciber," James spat. "All those other Death Eater assholes who - ".

"Language, Mr. Potter," McGonagall warned.

"All those assholes who have those fucking marks on their arms!"

"Unfortunately, James," Dumbledore said regretfully, "I have no grounds to accuse your classmates until I have some sort of evidence against them. We can't simply assume."

James whirled around and seethed, "You've got to be joking! It was clearly them, who else would-"

"You will _not, _under any circumstances," interrupted his head of house sternly, "forcefully approach any person you may believe to be guilty. You will be excused from your classes from tomorrow to avoid any temptations."

Dumbledore looked sadly down at Lily."I will be speaking to everyone who saw her the hours prior, and you should do the same. Until she wakes, gather as much information from her friends and your fellow Gryffindors."

"Horace, now more than ever is the time to watch your house with a close eye," he said to Slughorn, "as much as we hate to admit it, difficult times are approaching for students like Ms. Evans."

They were all silent until the clock chimed to 4 o'clock. Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat and said, "Ms. Evans needs uninterrupted rest. All can be resolved in the morning."

"Mr. Potter-"

"I'm not leaving," James interrupted stubbornly. "I'm not leaving her."

"Very well," said Dumbledore as he touched James' shoulder. "Ms. Evans will be in good hands with you here. Get some rest. Poppy, let us know when she wakes."

Pomfrey nodded and McGonagall, Slughorn, and Dumbledore all filed out.

"Mr. Potter, you may sleep in the next bed. If she wakes you call for me right away." She walked to her office and turned out the lights.

James turned to Lily. He held onto her hand tightly and touched her cheek with the other. He couldn't think of a time when he had ever been so scared or angry in his life. The extent that he would go to make sure she was never hurt again was terrifying, even to himself. This girl was surely going to be the death of him. And he was perfectly okay with that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** J.K. Rowling owns these characters.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> This chapter is a little longer, yay! But I hope to make the upcoming chapters even longer than this one. I have some cool ideas for the story so I hope you stick around to see the twists and all that good stuff. Enjoy and please comment with any suggestions!

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><p>James woke the next morning with a sore neck and more tired than he had ever been in his life. He had fallen asleep maybe two hours prior, sitting next to Lily's bed with his head near her legs and his hand in hers. He had stayed up all night, smoothing down her hair when she seemed to be in pain as she slept, and contemplating how this could have happened. Why had she been alone in the first place? How could no one have noticed Death Eaters coming into the common room? Why had she not screamed for help?<p>

All he knew was that whoever did this was going to pay. Lily was the strongest person he knew and he had no doubt that she'd hex whoever it was into oblivion from her hospital bed if she were given the opportunity. The thought made him smile and feel slightly better. But not enough to block his murderous thoughts.

A shuffling sound across the room startled James out of his thoughts.

"Prongs!" a voice he instantly recognized as his best friend Sirius', harshly whispered.

He turned to find Remus and Sirius hurriedly walking towards them with looks of worry and confusion on their faces.

"What the hell happened? We woke up and you weren't in the room so we checked the map and you and Lily were-" Remus stopped when he approached the bed and got a good look at her.

Sirius came from behind and when he got a good look his jaw went slack and his face visibly paled.

"What the fuck- " he began, but James was already telling the story of the night before."I came in maybe around 2:30 and I thought she was asleep. She had a blanket over her and everything, but I went to pick her up to move her to her room but when I went to reach for her there was blood everywhere. She has broken bones. Bruises. Someone fucking stabbed her," his voice cracked and he stopped and took a deep breath. "She has - _that word_ marked in her skin with dark magic. Three guesses who it could have been. And one guess as to who is going to kill them all."

They were silent for a few moments as they let it all sink in. Remus was looking at Lily with sad eyes while Sirius just looked enraged.

"But how could they have gotten into Gryffindor Tower?" Remus asked quietly. "Even the Fat Lady's not idiotic enough to let a horde of Slytherins waltz on in."

"I don't know," James said, "but she's the fastest at defensive charms other than us. How were they even able to get close enough to touch her?"

"They could have come from behind," said Sirius angrily, "it's no secret that they're all bloody cowards. Attacking a defenseless and unaware witch two times smaller than them is just their style."

Just then Madam Pomfrey walked in and shushed the boys, "No startling Ms. Evans, she needs to wake up from this on her own and needs quiet. You boys run along outside while I check her over."

James hesitantly detached from her side and walked outside the infirmary doors with his best friends.

"Where's Wormtail?"

"He went out last night with that Emily bird from Ravenclaw and said not to wait up. We figured he spent the night in the Room of Requirement. Bloody proud of him if you ask me," Sirius said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

James nodded and sighed. "I need you three to try and get as much information as possible today. Ask Mary, Marlene, everyone you can about where Lily was last night and who she was with. Once she wakes up she'll be able to tell us what happened, but until then we need as much information as we can."

They both nodded. The clock chimed to signal it was almost time for class.

"We'll find who did this, Prongsy, don't worry," Sirius said as he clapped James on the shoulder. "No one touches Red and gets away with it."

Remus nodded. "We'll come back after lunch and tell you everything we know."

They walked off and James instantly felt a bit better knowing his friends were on his side as usual.

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><p>Lily was still asleep by lunch time when the boys came back to report. They all looked a bit uncertain of what to say. Peter was with them this time and he whimpered a little when he looked at Lily.<p>

"So, what did you find out?" James asked eagerly.

"Think about this hard, James. What time did you leave to go for your walk last night?" Sirius asked him warily.

"I dunno, maybe around 9 or 9:30. Sometime after detention with McGonagall. Why?"

Sirius and Remus looked at each other with confused expressions.

"Are you absolutely sure? Because we were talking to-"

Just then Lily made a slight pained sound and shifted. Her head rolled to the side and her hands went to reach for the wound on her stomach.

"Bloody hell," she croaked as her eyes fluttered open a bit.

The boys started at her and James moved a bit closer to her as he moved to help and get her the water on the bedside table.

Lily's eyes opened and they widened as they landed on James and the three other boys.

"Hey you," James said gently, reaching out for her, "how are you feeling?".

She opened her mouth and let out the loudest blood curdling scream any of them have ever heard and they all jumped in the air.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! HELP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking her legs and swinging her arms around wildly.

"SOMEONE HELP!"

They all were terrified as they started at her. James moved closer to try and calm her down "Lily, it's me James, what's wro-"

"GET AWAY!" she yelled, in tears now.

Madam Pomfrey came running from her office towards the bed and yelled for the boys to get out of the way, "Everyone outside! Go fetch the headmaster this instant!"

"Lily please-" James pleaded with tears in his eyes as she continued to scream and sob.

"OUT!" bellowed Pomfrey.

The boys all ran outside the doors of the infirmary and Remus ran to get Dumbledore.

James was staring at the closed door as Lily continued to scream incoherently.

Sirius and Peter were both pale and shocked at the sudden outburst of the typically calm redhead.

"What on earth..." Peter whispered.

James suddenly started pounding on the wall next to the door, his knuckles already starting to bleed as Sirius went to grab for him. His eyes were red and every loud sob that was heard coming through the door from Lily seemed to break him down.

"What did I do?" He whispered over and over to himself. "She looked at me like I was a monster..." His voice broke.

Sirius was shaking his head, holding on to James' arms, "Something is wrong here..."

Remus and Dumbledore arrived. "You boys stay outside," he said authoritatively as he ran inside and closed the doors behind him, .

Everyone was staring towards the door with stunned faces. No one quite sure what just happened.

They were all silent as Lily's sobs finally subsided and they all visibly relaxed a bit.

James took a breath and suddenly turned around and started running.

"Prongs?"

"Prongs, what's going on!" They all ran after him, not sure where he was headed.

They ran a couple of corridors down and into the library. He ran straight towards the back of the stacks, until he found what he was looking for.

James grabbed him by the robes and pushed him up against the shelf, a look of murderous rage on his face.

"What the FUCK did you do?" he yelled.

"Get your hands off of me, Potter!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO LILY!"

Snape's eye flashed and narrowed. "What happened to Lily?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to Queen J.K. Rowling.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Alright, guys, here it is! Sorry it took so long, I've been working non-stop and this was really the first chance I've had to work on it all week. Thank you all for reviewing and following and I hope to hear more feedback soon. I really do hope you enjoy this and I promise the next upcoming chapters will be worth it all! Hope you guys like it!

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

James loosened his grip on him slightly. There was something in his eyes that made him believe that Snape actually didn't know what he was talking about. Snape was red in the face as he repeated once more, "What happened to Lily? Why wasn't she in class today?" He knocked James' hands out of the way as he slicked back his greasy hair and looked from each of the Marauders for an explanation. "I'm not going to ask agai-"

"Lily was attacked last night," Remus spoke up. "And we need to know who did it."

"Attacked?" he asked with a higher voice than normal. "Attacked how?"

"Stabbed," James said cooly. "And from the looks of it, choked and Merlin knows what else."

Sirius stepped forward towards the Slytherin with a sneer on his face, "Forgive us _Snivellus_, but for some reason the only people that come to mind when I think of this incident are your pathetic little friends. And _you._"

"HOW DARE YOU!" he bellowed as he stepped quickly towards Sirius. "I would never hurt her! I would rather die than hurt her!"

The Marauders exchanged glances with one another and James looked at Snape long and hard before sighing and sagging his shoulders in defeat. "Then help us. Help us find who did this to her. It kills me to even say this, but I believe you. If you care so much about her, then help us so this doesn't happen again." He looked him right in the eyes and spoke with an even voice, "Please."

They were all silent. Sirius' mouth was hanging open and Remus looked as if he had just seen James grow tentacles out of his head. Peter was looking as confused as always and even Snape had a baffled expression on his face.

They stared at each other for a moment. "Let's get one thing straight, Potter." He spit the last word. "I will help you find out what happened. For Lily's sake. I'm not doing this for you."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Snivelly."

With a scrunched up face Peter looked over at James. "This just doesn't make any sense. We talked to some people and everyone said the same thing. The last person they saw Lily with, was you."

"That's impossible," James said shaking his head. "I hadn't seen her since potions. I was looking for her before I went on my walk to talk about next weeks patrols but I couldn't find her so I left the grounds after that."

Remus looked as though he were racking his brains for an explanation. "Now that I think of it I didn't see her all day either. Did anyone?" he asked looking around the room.

They all shook their heads except for Snape. "I know she always goes to the library until dinner begins because I am usually here as well. But I was preoccupied last night and wasn't present."

"Preoccupied with what exactly? We're all dying to know." Sirius said with an accusing tone.

"I was here last night finishing McGonagall's essay and I definitely didn't see her anywhere," Remus interrupted before the two could begin arguing.

"So she wasn't in the library, maybe she was just with her mates. Surely Alice, Mary-"

"We talked to all of them already, they hadn't seen her at all that night," interrupted Sirius. "They figured she was sick and had a lie down because she wasn't at dinner. When they went back to the tower she wasn't there, and they just figured she was still in the library studying."

"So no one saw her all afternoon? None of this makes any sense"

They were all silently thinking to themselves, looking down deep in thought for a possible explanation.

"Well she's awake now, is she not? Someone that isn't Potter, go talk to her and ask what happened. She won't speak to me so one of you imbeciles needs to ask her these questions," Snape said rather impatiently. "I will gather information on my end. We will meet up here after dinner." He turned on his heel without another word, gathered his books and walked out.

"What the hell just happened?" Sirius looked after him. "I am thoroughly shocked."

"I second that," chimed Peter.

"Hush, you guys need to go talk to Lily. I'll talk to others. We'll meet at dinner." He walked off and was just as confused as the others. He didn't know what just happened, but if it was going to help him get to the bottom of this, he really didn't care.

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><p>After a long day of asking every person in their year about the whereabouts of Lily Evans the previous night, he was just as clueless as he was before. No one had seen her but no one was really actively looking for her either so there was no way of knowing if anything was actually fishy. He made his way to the Great Hall to meet the rest of the Marauders only to be stopped on the way there.<p>

"Oi, Potter!" James turned around and clenched his fists at the sight of the smug face of Evan Rosier with the rest of his Death Eater wannabe friends, including Snape and to his great distaste, Regulus Black.

"Where's your filthy little girlfriend, Potter?" jeered Nicholas Mulciber.

"Yeah, we missed her retched stench in class today," Thomas Avery laughed.

All the Slytherins sniggered amongst themselves, including Snape. Though he knew it was for show it just made him angrier. "Oh, she's great. She just had an upset stomach and didn't want to cough up at the sight of you all," quipped James.

"I bet her stomach is more than upset," Mulciber whispered over to Rosier with a sly smile but it didn't go unnoticed by James.

"What was that, Mulciber? Is there something that you'd like to share?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Potter," he said with a smirk on his brute face.

James was just about to launch himself towards him when arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him away, "Not here, Prongs," came the voice of Sirius in his ear.

"They know!" James struggled against him. "They know what happened to her! They have to have done it!"

"Prongs, not right now. You're going to want to hear this. We just had a very interesting conversation with a particular redhead, and you're not going to like it." He stopped struggling and finally noticed that Marlene and Mary were standing next to them along with Remus and Peter with weird looks on their faces.

"Out with it, then," said James impatiently, running his fingers through his hair which was particularly too flat for his taste, matching the way he was feeling in that moment.

Marlene who was always blunt and rather wordy, qualities in which Sirius found extremely attractive, looked worried and thoroughly baffled. Mary on the other hand looked uncharacteristically angry, seeing as how she was always a bit more pleasant and subtle. They and Lily were rather inseparable since third year and he could tell they were just as upset at what had happened as he was. Yes, he was worried about Lily because he fancied her, but more so because he cared about her as a friend like everyone around him.

"Well for starters, her memory has been tampered with. Something dark. Not even Dumbledore could get passed it," Peter said nervously.

"She told us that the last thing she remembers was getting that note from you asking for help with the charms homework and then going down to meet you when _you_ attacked her," Mary said with a look that could kill.

Marlene looked at him and her usual bold spark came back, "She said you jumped her and used a funny charm on her that made her mind go fuzzy like some sort of muggle drug. Do you know any spell like that, Potter?"

"Attacked her?.." James began in disbelief. "I would never…. I didn't even send a bloody note!" The more he thought about it the more furious he became that they could believe such a thing. "I finished charms days ago! It wasn't me!"

"Ladies, we've been over this," Remus said calmly. "We know it wasn't you, Prongs. The question we need to be asking was, who was it? And how?"

"She thinks I fucking attacked her!" He was about to rip his hair out. "I need to talk to her right now-" he started towards the direction of the hospital wing but Remus held him back. "No you don't, you need to go to Dumbledore and explain this straight away. He knows you would never hurt Lily, but it is rather strange, isn't it? She's hellbent on the idea that it was you so whoever did this must have been really convincing. One James is enough. But a second one that can play the part of being as arrogant as you? Now that's terrifying."

Everyone murmured their agreement and Marlene spoke up and sighed, "We know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her, Potter. We just can't rule out any possibilities at this point." Just then a paper airplane soared it's way to their group and hit Peter on the back of the head.

Sirius picked it up and opened it and scrunched up his face in confusion, "Eddie Meadowes?" he said aloud. "Who the hell is that?"

James walked over and looked at the paper, the name was written in a familiar scrawl that he couldn't quite pin. "Is that Snape's handwriting? What does it mean?"

"That's Dorcas' younger brother," Mary said with a furrowed brow. "You remember her, right? Two years above us and went into Auror training straight out of Hogwarts. That's her brother, fourth year in Hufflepuff I think."

"Maybe he knows something," suggested Marlene. "The kid is a little thing, wouldn't hurt a fly, but he is a bit sneaky. Maybe he saw something."

"Might as well give it a go," Peter said shrugging his shoulders.

They turned and made their way into the Great Hall towards the Hufflepuff table. "Anyone here see Eddie Meadowes?" James asked. He didn't know who he was or what he looked like so there was no use in trying to find him himself. "As head boy I need to speak with him immediately."

The younger Hufflepuff's looked up and down the table and shook their heads, "no" and "we don't see him" came several voices. But Marlene shouted "there!" and pointed towards the Ravenclaw table. A small boy with blonde hair and wide hazel eyes was talking animatedly with two other younger looking boys as they made their way towards him.

"-he Cannons will definitely win the cup this year, and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise," they heard him say certainly as they approached.

"Personally, my galleons are on Puddlemere," James smirked as Eddie turned around and widened his eyes even further at the sight of him and the others. "But if not them then the Cannons surely. Sorry to interrupt, but can we talk to you for a moment, Eddie?"

"You know my name?..." he said in amazement but recovered. "I mean, yes, of course!," and he jumped up quickly. "What is it, Mr. Potter?"

James and Sirius laughed slightly, "You can call me James, mate. We just had a quick question for you." He didn't really know what he was supposed to ask him and he stuttered a bit.

"Where were you last night?" Remus thankfully spoke for him.

"Last night?" he asked as he furrowed his brow. "Um… well after class I went to my room and erm, relaxed a bit. And then I studied for that blasted History of Magic test coming up on Monday and then I went back to the common room and met with some friends to play exploding snap." He suddenly turned red, "They somehow got ahold of some butterbeer and I don't remember much after that…. But please don't tell Professor Dumbledore, we were just having a bit of a laugh!" he pleaded with his eyes looking towards Remus and James because of their titles no doubt.

Mary and Marlene made "Aw" noises and Peter rolled his eyes. Remus laughed, "Don't worry, mate. We Marauders have done way worse than smuggling a bit of butterbeer and we're somehow still here."

"So you don't remember seeing anything strange, do you?" James asked, getting serious again. "If you did we need to know. Think hard."

"Strange? Like what, sir? I remember seeing Mr. Filch snuggling with a cat on the east stairwell…" he said as Sirius doubled over with a loud and booming laughter.

James couldn't help but laugh. "That is pretty strange and exactly what we needed to know to confirm our suspicions," he said as Sirius and Peter were leaning against each other with tears in their eyes. "Thank you for all your help. If you ever need quidditch pointers you know where to find me," he winked at Eddie and ruffled his hair and his eyes started shining.

"Thanks, Eddie!" they all said to him as they turned away.

"Why in Merlin's name would Snivelly want us to talk to him? He's a pathetic little thing," Sirius said, still wiping tears of laughter out of his eyes.

Marlene smacked his arm, "Leave him alone! He's precious. Maybe you should take some pointers, Black."

He shut up immediately and narrowed his eyes at her while crossing his arms.

"He is pathetic though," Peter said quietly as Mary smacked him upside the head.

"I don't know why he lead us to Eddie," said Remus contemplating, "but we should go to meet up with him pretty soon. I'm sure he has his reasons."

They all walked to the library and waited for Snape to arrive like he said he would. They all talked quietly about Lily and and the homework due tomorrow that none of them had done due to the all of the excitement. Though James wasn't letting it show, he was still very upset that Lily believed he had ever harmed her. The thought made his heart beat faster but he would talk to her after this was all settled.

The doors to the library opened and Snape walked in. He spotted them and walked away from them towards the back of the library. They took that as a cue to follow him.

"Eddie Meadowes?" James whispered to him as they approached him. "Why did you tell us to talk to him?"

"What are you talking about, you idiot?" snarled Snape. "I don't know who that is. But I do know one thing; and that is that none of my housemates were responsible for hurting Lily. If they had they would have been undoubtedly been bragging about it. They had no idea it happened until I told them. Said they congratulated whoever did and wished they had thought of it first."

They all processed this before Remus spoke. "And you believe them?"

"Yes., I bloody believe them," he said impatiently. "They're all idiots. They could never have thought up a plan as elaborate as that and gotten away with it."

"Then who else could it have been?" Marlene wondered aloud. "Everyone else loves Lily. Who else would ever try to hurt her?"

Snape started walking towards the exit, "I have better things to do than brainstorm with the likes of you all. I will continue to keep an ear out and you should do the same. Only approach me if it's necessary." But before he could make his way out of sight he stopped but didn't bother to turn around as he asked quietly, "How is she?"

"She's alive Severus, but she almost wasn't. Try hard to find whoever did this," Mary whispered. "Please."

Snape stiffened slightly before he turned and walked out of the library without a backward glance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **All characters belong to the one and only, J.K. Rowling.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Okay, guys, here it is! Sorry it took to long to upload I was on vacation and blah blah. TW: this chapter is a little violent, just keep that in mind when reading. It's a bit short but it's a necessary part to the story. Hope you enjoy and as always leave comments please!

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><p><em>L, <em>

_Are you busy this evening? I obviously wasn't paying much attention in class and need massive help with the Charms essay. Flitwick will have my head if I turn in another assignment late. If so, meet me by the One-Eyed Witch statue at 6:30? _

_JP_

Lily rolled her eyes and stuffed the parchment in her bag. She vaguely remembered James and Dolt Number Two (Sirius) giggling like first year girls in the back of the Charms classroom the day before, so she wasn't surprised at all by the note that was slipped under her door that morning. Though she had to admit that she smiled in spite of herself when she caught sight of the familiar lazy handwriting.

She would never say it out loud, but James had grown on her. After realizing that he wasn't as big of a prick as she initially believed, their friendship actually blossomed into something healthy and promising.

He would always be a prat, but it was something that she had accepted and secretly enjoyed. James was… A great friend. Excellent, really. So excellent that she would pretend that having to give him her Charms notes bothered her, but she was actually very okay with it. Too okay with it.

"Lily, wait up, woman!"

Lily was torn from her thoughts as her best friend, Marlene McKinnon came barreling down the corridor towards her. She was of course as beautiful as always, but she looked a bit disheveled.

"You will not _believe_ what happened to me," Marlene panted as she tried catching her breath.

"I believe you're going to tell me," retorted Lily. "And no offense but, you stink." She scrunched up her nose and jokingly stepped away from her.

Marlene glared at her, "I'm getting to that! You know who's a fucking prat? I'll tell you, James 'Worst Quidditch Captain of the Century' Potter. You know what he made us do last night? He made us practice in the freezing rain! I'm surprised I didn't get bloody hypothermia!" she was yelling so loud that the people passing by kept giving them strange looks but Lily was too busy laughing to care. "Or frostbite! What if I had lost my fingers, Lily?! This is serious!"

Marlene rants were Lily's favorite thing to listen to. They were a perfect combination of sarcasm and seriousness that she could just never take her seriously.

"If you lost your fingers than Sirius Black would never be able to hold them and that would just be tragic for everyone involved," countered Lily while she wiggled her eyebrows.

"You're a wench, you know that?" Marlene sneered with a look of disgust on her face that only made Lily laugh louder and harder as they entered the great hall for breakfast.

"What's so funny?" Mary asked as they sat down next to her. "Ew, Marly you smell horrible."

Marlene gave her a look to kill and launched into her story once more. Making the girls laugh as four boys came and plopped down next to them.

James sat next to Lily on one side of the table while Peter sat next to him. Remus moved to sit down next to Marlene but Sirius gave him a look and Remus grinned and slid over so Sirius could scoot in between them.

"You smell like shit," Sirius sniffed and made a face.

Marlene looked like she was about to bust the vein in her forehead, "WHOSE BLOODY FAULT IS THAT I WONDER?"

"Aw, McKinnon," James charmingly smiled, pouring himself some pumpkin juice, "don't be mad, just think about how good it's gonna feel when we kick Slytherin's arse next week!"

She glowered. "There's definitely an ass I want to kick and it's not Slytherin's." They all laughed out loud while she glared.

They started talking Quidditch and Lily tuned out and watched James as he talked animatedly. The childlike joy he emitted when talking about anything Quidditch related was adorable to watch. She just wanted to grab his cheeks and-

"You're going to the game, right, Lily?" he looked at her with that look still plastered on his face.

It took her a moment to process what he said. "Of course, I need to see Slytherin's ass kicking for myself."

And the smile he gave her was the most radiant thing she'd ever seen.

"Shit! I totally forgot I left my bag at the pitch last night," James said suddenly and made to get up.

"We'll go with you, mate," Peter said and they all moved to leave.

"We will see you in class, Ladies," Remus called over his shoulder.

"See you later, James, " she called to him and she winked.

He gave her a confused look but just shook his head and kept walking.

"What do you mean you'll see him later?" asked Mary curiously.

"He asked me to help him study tonight for Charms," Lily shrugged nonchalantly.

Her two friends shared a look and smirked at each other.

"What?" she demanded.

They smiled and shook their heads.

"Nothing at all, Lils. Nothing at all."

* * *

><p>Classes drug on all day. By the final lesson Lily was ready to go and take a nap before she had to meet James. She was exhausted from studying in the library until late the night before.<p>

She gathered her things and decided to skip dinner. Instead of taking a nap she decided to take a shower do something with her hair and face.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone, psh. I just care about my appearance is that so bad?" She thought to herself.

After nothing else could be done for her hair and after her eyeliner was perfectly winged, she grabbed her Charms notes and set out for the One-Eyed Witch statue.

When she got there James was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked even more arrogant than usual but she thought nothing of it. He had probably just given a Slytherin a detention, she thought to herself.

He looked up as he heard her approach and smiled, "Evans, you came."

"I told you I was going to, idiot." She blushed for reasons that were unknown even to her.

He continued looking at her and didn't make any effort to move off the wall. "You look great," he said as he eyed her body up and down with a hungry look in his eyes.

She shook her head and figured she was imagining things, he was never this forward with her. "Well where are we doing this, Potter?" she said with a hint of impatience.

He moved off the wall and grabbed her hand.

"This way." He started towards a corridor that was always typically empty and opened a nearby classroom door with a quick wave of his wand and walked in.

Her hand that was in his itched, "Potter, why don't we just go to the librar-"

She was cut off as his mouth crashed down onto hers. She was in so much shock that it took her a moment to fully understand what was happening. His mouth was open and trying to pry hers open as his hands were trailing down her sides to grab hold of her hips.

It felt wrong. Everything was wrong.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing, James?!" She made to push him off but he grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides.

"C'mon, Lily, I know you want this," he whispered as his tongue was trailing down her neck. He grabbed her more roughly and pulled her towards him.

She started fighting off then, trying to free her arms so she could get to her wand in the back pocket of her robes.

"Potter! Stop, right now, this isn't funny! I don't want this!" she cried and continued to struggle.

"Quiet, someone may hear you." He pulled out his wand and cast a charm on her.

She tried to scream but no voice was coming out.

"It's just a little silencing spell, no worries, love." He pushed her towards the wall roughly and her head cracked against it.

He grabbed at her robes, yanking them open, and she used this moment to wrench free of him and kick him straight in the balls. She made a run towards the door as he was doubled over and got out her wand.

"Expelliarmus!" and familiar piece of wood was flung out of her hand and into the air, straight into his hand.

She reached the door and tried to open the handle but it was locked. She started banging on the door, screaming "HELP" even though there was no one that could possibly hear her.

She suddenly felt herself hit right on the small of her back with some sort of spell that instantly made her legs buckle. Her arms suddenly felt very weak and her body felt very heavy. She slid against the door and wasn't able to move. Her vision was swirling.

She felt his hands on her shoulders turning her around to face him, and she moved her heavy eyes upwards towards his face.

"Lily, Lily, you could have just cooperated and we wouldn't have had to go this route."

She was still slumped against the door frame, so weak that she wasn't sure how she still was able to move her mouth. "Why? Why are you doing this?" she said but still no sound was coming out.

"Why? Well, Lily, you have to understand. I've always wanted you."

He walked towards her and crouched down beside her, touching her face and moving her hair from her face.

"Always wanted to see what you were hiding under those robes."

"Always wanted to feel for myself."

He ripped open her shirt and eyed her with an animalistic gleam in his eyes.

"Always wanted to know what the blood of a Mudblood would look like."

She screamed, but once again, no one heard her.

* * *

><p>She gained enough consciousness to know she was in the Gryffindor Common Room. James was next to her on the couch, reading a book as casually and calmly as if there weren't a girl bleeding to death next to him.<p>

He looked behind them when someone came in through the portrait hole. She heard him through muffled ears mutter a "hello" and a "yeah she fell asleep on me" with a quick laugh and then went back to reading his book.

She tried to open her mouth, to scream for help, but her body wasn't responding.

She doesn't know how long she was there. All she knew was that the pain in her body was unbearable. And that James Potter was a monster.

She felt him get up from beside her and she cracked open her eyes. He was standing over her, looking down at her as if she were an animal he was observing.

He pulled a shiny object from the inside of his robes and inspected it fondly.

He looked back down at her and before she knew it he stuck the object in her middle.

She felt the pain, but could do nothing to react to it. She just closed her eyes and wished that death would come quickly.

She felt a blanket being thrown over her. He tucked it in to her sides, as if she were a child ready for bedtime.

Se felt him lean down with his face next to hers.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he whispered. "I really am."

She took a breath and it didn't smell like James.

"But you deserve this"

The pain deepened and she could feel herself drifting out of consciousness.

"Remember that as you die."

There were footsteps and the sound of the portrait door swinging open and closed.

Darkness overcame her and she knew no more.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Next chapter we will find out the mystery behind this James, stay tuned! xoxo


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